Indisposed
by Bookwormefm
Summary: When Jack spoke to Ratchet while the Autobots were on Cybertron, the teen was not pleased with the conversation. So after being saved by the Autobots, Jack has a couple of things he'd like to get off his chest. Slight AU. Oneshot


Transformers Prime

**Author's Note: Hiya! So I know I haven't been uploading a lot in the past couple months. But I've been doing more reading than writing. And, now that school's out, I've had more time on my hands. So… I started working on this. It went way off of what I had planned, but I'm still pleased with it. Enjoy!**

"Autobots! I suggest you put a halt to your task, and hand over those keys," Megatron said, taking a step closer.

"And why would we do that?" Smokescreen demanded.

A space bridge appeared behind the Decepticon, and he smirked. "So that I may hand over the humans."

The Autobots stared as Knockout, Shockwave, and Starscream stepped through, holding Jack, Miko, and Raf in their own sealed container.

"And if we refuse?" Optimus questioned. Megatron stepped closer. "Than I will have no choice but to open the pods, exposing your pets to Cybertron's toxic atmosphere. And then, we can all watch them instantly perish. Together."

Back on base, Ratchet was desperately trying to contact Optimus. "Optimus, can you hear me. Optimus!"

Agent Fowler sighed. "There must be something you can do."

Ratchet said, "I'm afraid I must go in and help. If I can just pinpoint their coordinates…"

Ratchet typed furiously at the keyboard as Fowler's phone rang. He flipped it open. "Agent Fowler," he said.

"Agent Fowler? It's June Darby. Is Jack with you? I haven't been able to reach him all day."

"June. No, I'm sorry, I haven't seen him. He must be with Raf and Miko."

"He's not with the other Autobots?"

"No, June. I'll let you know if I hear from him," Fowler said, before hanging up with an exasperated sigh.

"I've got them!" Ratchet announced. "Agent Fowler, I'm going to need you to control the space bridge. Close it behind me once I go through, and reopen it after five minutes has passed. It will give me the opportunity to see if anything is wrong."

Ratchet's arms turned into blasters, as Fowler pulled the lever and Ratchet sprang through to Cybertron.

Back on Cybertron, Optimus was quickly attempting to build a plan in order to save the children, and still have the advantage of the Omega Keys.

At that moment, a space bridge opened up next to them, and Ratchet stepped through. With surprising speed, transformed into vehicular form, and rammed right into Knockout and Soundwave. The children went flying, but their autobot counterpart caught them, before they containers shattered.

Ratchet then turned on Starscream, who looked suddenly terrified. But Starscream refused to allow himself to be ridiculed by the autobot, and dodged the speeding Ratchet. Ratchet was then blasted back by a large blow from Megatron.

He transformed, and was helped up by a hand from Optimus. "Well done, old friend."

"Starscream," Megatron demanded. "Give me the boy."

Starscream passed the pod over to his leader. "This human must be important to entrust with the Matrix of Leadership. What happens when I open this lid?"

Jack turned on the Decepticon leader defiantly. "Go ahead. The Autobots were willing to sacrifice themselves for my planet. And I'll do the same for theirs."

Megatron laughed. "Perhaps we should oblige him."

"No!" Arcee screamed. "Jack!" Miko and Raf shouted.

Optimus drew his guns. "I will not allow him to die for us." Optimus opened fire, and Megatron was easily blasted back, not expecting the blow. Jack was dropped, and Arcee sped forward and caught her partner.

As Megatron stumbled to his feet, Optimus fired again, as Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Smokescreen, and Ratchet took on Soundwave, Starscream, and Knockout. Megatron deflected Optimus' blast, and the two charged each other. Arcee stood protectively around the children, whose pods had been huddled together under Arcee's watchful eye.

Then, a space bridge opened, and after no Decepticons came through, Ratchet shouted, "That's ours!"

The Autobots retreated through the space bridge, each guardian holding their human, and Smokescreen in possession of all the Omega Keys, as Optimus fired one last shot, before jumping through the space bridge, as Megatron watched it close.

Agent Fowler ran forward as the six Autobots stepped through and the space bridge closed behind Optimus. Fowler watched as the children were set down in their pods, as the Autobots removed the lids.

"The kids?" Jack, Miko, and Raf were carefully released from the pods, and set down next to Fowler. "I don't understand. What happened?"

"The children were kidnapped," Optimus explained, "And were attempted to be used to bargain for the Omega Keys. The Decepticons would have succeeded, too, if not for Ratchet. Well done."

Smokescreen laid the Omega Keys down next to the kids and Fowler. Optimus looked as though he was going to say more, but stopped as the group heard tires, and the ten of them watched June Darby come to a screeching halt in base.

The woman got out of her car, and stomped towards her son, as the Autobots stepped back. "Mom!" Jack exclaimed, rushing down to meet her.

"Jackson Darby, where have you been?" The mother demanded, as she pulled her son into a suffocating hug. "I have been worried sick!"

"I'm sorry, Mom. I just, uh… Got caught up in something." Jack wasn't sure whether or not to tell his mother the truth. It would just worry her more.

"Jack…" Arcee reprimanded. Jack sighed, as his mother looked at him worriedly. "I, uh…"

Arcee sighed, before turning to June. "The kids were kidnapped by the Decepticons and brought to Cybertron, to attempt to be bargained for valuable Cybertronian tech needed to restore our planet. But luckily, Ratchet intervened, and we returned here only moments ago with the children and the relics."

"Kidnapped?" June demanded. "They didn't hurt us or anything!" Jack said. "No," Miko muttered, "But they wanted to."

This did not help the panicked June, whose eyes widened further. "How were you kidnapped?"

"Well," Raf started. "School had been out for about an hour, and we hadn't been picked up like we normally are. So when Jack called Ratchet, who told us that the bots were 'indisposed' and that we should find other means of transport, we were a little confused… anyways, we were later grabbed by the Decepticons and brought to Cybertron."

"Indisposed?" June Darby demanded. "They weren't _actually_ indisposed!" Ratchet defended himself. "They just… weren't available."

"You could have said that instead," Jack said, sounding a little cross. "I thought you understood that they just weren't available!"

"Wait, what does 'indisposed' mean?" Miko asked, confused.

"It means unwilling," Jack explained. "I don't want to put any blame on Ratchet, and I didn't know the Autobots were on Cybertron, but when he said that… I don't know. I just felt suddenly… unwanted."

Optimus and Raff appeared to be the only one who didn't look confused, but instead sympathetic.

"How?" Arcee asked, crouching down closer to her partner, and the other humans.

"Well… It's just… Never mind. It's not a big deal." Jack turned his back on the group, and started to head off deeper into the base, but was stopped when Optimus stepped in front of him.

"You felt unwanted because you had just been told that we were unwilling to come and pick you up," Optimus said softly. Jack looked up at the group leader, and gave a short nod.

"But I would hope, Jack, that you trust us enough to know that we would always be there to pick you up, unless we were otherwise occupied, and not believe that we weren't there just because we didn't want to be." Jack suddenly looked kind of angry.

"Trust you! Because you've trusted _us_ a great deal lately, haven't you?" Jack demanded. Optimus frowned, and his optics looked confused, and traced with sadness. "I… do not know to what you are referring."

"It's just… I care about all of you, but then you decide not to tell us you're plan, and not to tell us when you're going to Cybertron, and then when we call, you _lie_ to us, and still don't tell us what's happening. Maybe-maybe you're just concerned about our safety and well being, or some other crap. But we're in this together now, and I'd like to believe we'll be included." Jack's outburst appeared to surprise all Autobots, as well as Miko, Fowler, and Mrs. Darby.

But Raf had an understanding expression across his face. "He's right. I love all of you, and I know you care about us so much, but do you trust us? We've been through so much together. We've proven ourselves to you. Jack proved himself when he traveled to Cybertron to Vector Sigma, and he must have done something in order for you to entrust the key to him. I've helped Ratchet in the computer field as much as I could, despite the fact that he keeps insisting that this isn't child's play. And Miko… Well, she's proven to be even tougher than she looks."

The Autobots were starting to feel incredibly guilty for underestimating the humans. Raf continued, "You know were capable, and you know we would die for you, and vice versa. So you can't even take the chance to tell us that you're trying to restore your planet, and might be leaving us soon?"

Bumblebee whirred and chirped, but Raf just sighed. "I know you would say goodbye, Bee. But I don't want you to leave." The twelve-year old looked up at them all, standing above him, with tear stained cheeks. "I would miss you all so much."

Jack put his arm around the young genius. "We would all miss you. And here's me hoping that everything we've just said to you, will convince you not to go, despite having the Omega Keys. That you will stay, and demonstrate that you trust us, and then we can play games, and race, and fight Decepticons, and be stupid, and enjoy ourselves."

Miko stepped forward, her eyes filled with tears. "If you wouldn't mind, Ratchet. I think the three of us would like to go home. You can just ground bridge us to Jack's house."

Ratchet looked astounded, but cautiously nodded, and complied to the children's request. Miko led a tear-filled Raf through, with one last glance at Bulkhead. Jack turned to head through, and then glanced over the group, his eyes resting momentarily on Arcee, and then on Optimus. He turned towards the ground bridge.

"See you at home, Mom."

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To say that the remaining group was shocked was a huge understatement. June Darby stared after her son, wondering how much of that he'd been bottling up. And Raf. She was surprised at the young boy's thoughts. She knew the Autobots loved all three of the children, and wondered why they weren't completely open to the kids.

"Whoa," Smokescreen broke through the stunned silence, and turned to look at the other Bots. "Um... Shouldn't somebody go after them?"

"No," Optimus said. "At least, not yet. Give them time. They need it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The three kids were in Jack's house. Raf and Miko were sipping glasses of Cola. Miko had offered some to Jack after digging it out of the fridge, but he had refused. Now the two younger teens were watching their friend pace across his tile kitchen floor, running his fingers through his untidy hair.

"Careful," Miko said sarcastically, "I think you're drilling a hole in the floor from all your pacing."

"I-I didn't mean to explode like I did," Jack said, looking stressed as he turned to his friends. "I didn't! I just... I was tired of being lied to so much!"

Raf and Miko exchanged a glance. "That's completely understandable, Jack," Raf said. "I understood what you were saying, and I spoke my mind as well. It's okay."

Miko nodded. "I just... I don't want them to be mad at me."

"Their not," Miko promised. "They'll give us space for a little while and then we'll be back at base in no time; playing games and being stupid and enjoying ourselves. Just like you want."

Jack nodded.

The next day, Jack couldn't help but smile when the three kids exited the school. Parked right out front was Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee.

The kids laughed and ran up to their guardians. Jack stopped next to Arcee, as Bulkhead and Bumblebee drove off to base. "Arcee. I'm sorry about yesterday, I didn't mean to-"

"No, Jack. The team agreed after you left that you're right. We haven't been honest. And we promise to never lie to you like that again. We love you guys, and we will do anything for your planet."

Jack fought back tears, and coughed to cover up his cracking voice. "Thanks, Arcee. He climbed on, and Arcee sped off towards the base.

Back at base, Jack was greeted by his mother and Agent Fowler. But Jack released himself from his mother's grip and turned to Optimus. "I'm sorry," Jack said softly, "I didn't mean to… I mean- I was just so frustrated, and I…!"

Optimus knelt down next to the troubled teen. "Do not worry, Jack. It is we who should apologize. You were right. We haven't been open with you, and for that, we are sorry."

The other Autobots nodded. Jack gave a small smile. "It's okay. I'm kind of glad to get that off my chest. Now, we can just move on.

Bulkhead suddenly transformed. "C'mon! I think we should do some racing!" Miko climbed into the passenger's seat with a gleeful shout, as Bumblebee raced out with Raf. Arcee looked ready to turn as well, but stopped when she saw Jack. He was staring at Ratchet, who had turned away with a depressed sigh. "Come, Arcee," Optimus said, as Smokescreen raced after the two youngest kids. "Let us give them some space."

The two drove off, as Jack approached Ratchet. "Ratchet?" The doc did not turn to look at Jack, who climbed up onto the platform to get closer. "Ratchet, I'm sorry about yesterday. I practically dumped the blame on you, and I'm really sorry! I just-"

"No, Jack." The medic finally spoke. "I should be the one apologizing. I mislead you, and made you believe we had abandoned you and the other children. I apologize for making you unsure about us. But we trust you a great deal. Arcee cares about you so much, and the others admire you greatly."

Jack sighed. "I know Ratchet. But you can't take all the blame. I was angry, and it clouded my judgment. I could have made a better call, instead of choosing to shout at all of you."

Ratchet nodded at the boy, before turning back to his computer. Jack climbed down from the platform. He headed towards the exit, but turned back a moment later. "Ratchet?" The medic turned to look at the young human. "If you're not too busy, you should come and join us. Who knows? You might enjoy yourself."

Jack turned away from the doctor. He headed into the tunnel that led out of the base, but the sound of tires stopped him. Ratchet's alt form pulled up beside him, and the door opened.

"I thought you might need a ride," the medic said. Jack smiled and climbed into the driver's seat of the emergency vehicle. Ratchet sped out of base, passing Arcee and Optimus, who had been waiting for Jack, pulled up to a screeching halt beside Bulkhead and Bumblebee, who had parked themselves at the top of slope, preparing for the race. Jack climbed out of Ratchet, and stood beside Raff.

"I'm going to take you down!" Ratchet shouted at Bulkhead and Bee. "We'll see, Doc," Bulkhead promised, as Arcee and Optimus pulled up. The two transformed from their vehicle mode, and watched as Miko ran out.

"Ready! Set! GO!" Miko shouted. The three Autobots shot forward. Bumblebee pulled ahead, but then to everyone's surprise, Ratchet shot forward, and raced ahead of his teammates. Ratchet laughed to himself, as Jack cheered him on with a gleeful shout.

**Author's Note: So… I'd love to know what you think! Was it weird how I went on with the whole 'indisposed' thing? I was watching the last two episodes of Season Two, and I wondered what that word meant, and looked it up, and this is the result. Hope you enjoyed! Favorite and review! :D**

**-Bookwormefm **


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